A Hero In Our Hearts
by The Soup
Summary: Heroes and bravery, all in one spiffy metaphorical speech made by Roxas to Sora about being who he truly is... [SoraxLeon, AxelxRoxas, RikuxSora]


**S**ORA WAS MORE than shocked, a little more than angry. He was heart-aching and broken up inside. He wailed, "Why? Whhhhhyyy? I don't get it! How could you leave me for Captain Flower Patch!" 

Kairi's eyes shot a barrage of daggers. "Easy," she replied coldly. "Like this."

Marluxia held out his arm for his new girlfriend, caressing her shoulder with gentle circling of his fingers. He nuzzled his chin into her hair and kissed her forehead, things Sora could never do to Kairi; Sora died triple inside.

"I can see why you left him for me," Marluxia remarked. "He's such a whiner."

"I am not...!" Sora was crying, eyes moist and lip quivering.

"There you go. Whiner." Marluxia grinned in triumph, eyes glittering with malice. "Go hump your boyfriends, will ya? Leave us be." He cuddled Kairi a little more, and she giggled, nuzzling into his embrace.

Sora's chest hurt and his jaw was going to fall off. Just looking at the scene of his almost-girlfriend going off with one of his ex-enemies-made-anew made him burn with a flaming jealousy that threatened to rip through him. His anger swelled as he cried, "I'm not gay!"

"That's what they all say," Kairi sneered.

Sora directed his words at Marluxia, completely ignoring Kairi's bitch-mode. "I'm not gay, Pansy boy!" He declared, "I'm bi!"

Silence dropped heavily. Marluxia and Kairi shared a look with each other, both indulging in the awkward moment. Then, they started walking off, completely paying no mind to the little fag.

"I'm not gay! I'm not, I'm not, I'm not!" Sora shouted after them, then he stopped. His breath and expression showed the desperation and he grew limp. "Dang it... This is all Roxas' fault."

Inside Sora's heart, in the darkness of his personality, Roxas was very much alive and very much freaking out.

_Don't blame me, blame Axel, _he said, his voice very faint and phantom-like. Almost like speaking with the dead.

**O**utside, Sora sat down on the beach, talking to his other.

"Yeah, blame Axel," he agreed. "If Riku hadn't seen the way Axel was acting around me, Riku wouldn't have admit that he was gay for me."

Roxas snickered from somewhere within. _Mmm-hm... Axel just thinks you're me. Doesn't matter what body I'm in -- Axel's always going to be gay for me. _

"**Y**ou think it's love?" Sora remembered everything Riku and Leon had been doing to him, around him. "What's between you and him, I mean?"

_I don't know, _Roxas said. _Maybe it is, as far as Nobodies go. _

"**N**o, I meant you. Do you love him?"

_I guess... I do technically have a heart now. _Roxas became thoughtfully silent for a minute, and Sora remained patient for his answer, staring off into the bleeding sundown.

Roxas continued. _Even if I do love him, it's not like you're going to do anything about it. _

**S**ora got up out of the sand. He brushed his pants off. "Who knows. I could arrange for you guys to meet. He goes to my school now."

Roxas snorted. _How? I'm in your body. And it makes no sense... everyone came back? I thought we all faded into darkness... They're back? Are you serious? _

"**D**uh," Sora told him. "I don't know how it happened, but maybe when I found the door to light and broke the darkness, maybe it brought everyone back. Including you, you're just sharing my body." Sora looked out into the ocean, remembering how he and Riku fell through the sky and into the sea...

He added, "But, seriously, if I prove that you're gay, not me, they'll get off my case."

_Huh... I don't know. How's that going to work? _

"**W**ell, I'm only bi because you're gay."

_What? That's crazy! You're in denial! _Roxas shot, offended by Sora's insensitivity. _You make no sense. You think that because Axel and I were lovers in my other life, you think I've 'infected' you with gay, which is why you're crushing of guys and why you're thinking of losing it to Leon. _

**S**ora was breathless. He couldn't believe where everything was going. "I'm not gay!"

_Quite telling yourself that. It's not gonna work out, _Roxas told him. Sora felt a serious pang twitter inside him, coming from Roxas' presence. _You're gay. Just accept it. _

"**W**hy?"

_Why not? It happened to me. I was trying to force a crush on Larxene, just to hide from the fact I was always thinking about Axel. _Roxas' voice was thoughtful, and Sora wished he could comfort himself, the part of him that was more like a brother. _The more I denied it, the truer it become, _he said. _If you keep trying to hide that you're totally into Leon or Riku, it's going to make your life miserable. _

**S**ora gave a sigh, and then he started walking towards the boat leading back to land. He said, "My life's already miserable." He stopped walking and gave a sniffle of sad. "I miss Leon."

_I'm sorry, but, _Roxas said, _you're totally gay for Leon. _

"**I **know... I was just afraid to find I was really gay for him." Sora bent his knees and picked up a handful of sand. He watched the grains of gold slip through his fingers, golden powder on the shore, as he remained crouching. He held his knees with his arms and closed his eyes. "I'm such a loser," he murmured.

Roxas sighed sympathetically. (Damn this new heart of his.) _It's okay. If you're gay, be gay. You can't change who you are. _

Sora's eyes burned with emotion he wasn't going to let out. "I'm afraid... what will people think of a gay hero?" he asked.

_A hero isn't a hero just because people call him one. It's something earned every day, _Roxas explained. _A hero is a hero simply because he was willing to fail to become one. _

**S**ora tried to smile; it sort of happened. He pulled himself from his crouch, and stretched his limbs high over his head. The sky overhead was growing a darker violet, so he figured he might as well start heading home.

He went down the shore to the pier, and got into the only rowboat tied up. "Well, I'm feeling all right." He tried to fake happiness, but he knew Roxas could tell he was faking it. He wilted, admitting, "I'm afraid of finding out the truth."

Roxas wouldn't stand for this. _Shut up. Being gay isn't the end of the world. You have to be brave to be yourself! _He said, _Being gay and admitting it takes courage, and... _He suddenly thought of Axel and their good times, and found that maybe Sora was right about his new kind of love. _It's not so bad... _

He really wanted to see Axel again, now that he thought about it.

**S**ora was convinced. "I guess so..." He untied his boat from the deck, grabbing oars with both hands. "I'll be a hero to myself, then... I'll believe the truth, no matter how many times I fail at life."

Roxas' voice seemed to be smiling; Sora could just feel it. _It's called perseverance. _

**S**ora could feel a prideful glowing radiating from inside him; it was Roxas' joy.

"Keep going," Sora said, "even if it hurts."

_Yep. Being a hero means planting major face every day and getting back up. _

**S**ora laughed, remembering how long it took him to get the hang of skateboarding... "But what does that have to do with being gay?"

_It had everything to do with being brave, _Roxas said, _and I think that has everything to do with being true to yourself. _

--  
;I own nothing but the words, ideas, and situations I control.  
WTF? I have no clue why I wrote this...  
It barely makes sense, and it doesn't really have a point, but it was fun writing all that dialogue.  
Roxas' hero speech was inspired by a speech of the same subject made by Captain Blue in the second episode of the Viewtiful Joe anime.  
...Whatever. I like this story, although the formatting is totally out of whack.  
COMPLETE


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